Today's News

Bedford’s town council adopted a new method of passing on power cost adjustments to its customers.
According to Councilman Tim Black, the town’s electric department will go to a variable cost adjustment method which will smooth out power costs. A study on the town’s electric department recommended the change.
Town Manager Charles Kolakowski said the adjustment factor will be done monthly and calculated over a rolling six-month period based on actual costs to provide electricity to customers.

A 66-year-old Bedford man has been charged with aggravated sexual battery following a June 27 incident investigated by the Bedford Police Department.
Lewis William Hall, who lives in the Pinecrest Apartments, was arrested after police investigated a complaint.
When police arrived to investigate a dispute, an intoxicated female told officers that someone had been on top of her, having non-consensual sex with her while she had been asleep, according to Chief Todd Foreman of the Bedford Police Department.

Investigators first linked the naval officer and Top Gun graduate to a 14-year-old girl from Bedford County who sent him a topless selfie – only to be threatened with public humiliation if she refused more explicit instructions.

Then, federal agents said, they tied Lt. Daniel Chase Harris to eight other girls across the country and in Japan who experienced similar horrors.
But Harris’ case didn’t end there. While awaiting trial, he used a false name to draft a letter claiming he had been framed.

In spite of threatening weather, 3,500 people turned out for the Horse and Hound Wine Festival, held Saturday. Two animal-related organizations, new to the festival, had booths this year.

One came all the way from San Angelo, Texas. Mark and Amy Meyers, who founded Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, brought Leo and Halo to draw people to their booth. Their organization rescues abused, neglected and abandoned donkeys and finds homes for them. They have volunteer ranches, that partner with them, all over the country; two are in Virginia.

“It’s not as much money as we expected but it’s certainly a doable amount,” Bill Cram, an M. B. Kahn representative told the school board at a special called meeting last week.
Kahn is the company the school board hired to oversee the construction of the new middle school in the Liberty attendance zone.

The Forest man accused of attempting to abduct a 13-year-old boy last September pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to that and other charges during a hearing held July 7 in Bedford County Circuit Court.
Michael Anthony Wood Jr, 49, has already been held in custody for 10 months, pending trial and will remain in jail until a spot opens up in a psychiatric facility, according to Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz.

Bedford County moved a step closer to providing county-wide broadband coverage Monday night.
The Bedford County Broadband Authority and the Board of Supervisors took action to lease a site in Montvale to Mid-Atlantic Broadband Com-munications Corporation for a tower which will help bring broadband Internet coverage to parts of the county that don’t have it available.
The Broadband Author-ity consists of the members of the Board of Supervisors.